ON THE FRONTIER OF THE BUDDHISTCHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

di Mitchell Donald W.

10 Novembre 2015 - Fonte: Sophia

The author traces his journey into the frontier of the Buddhist-Christian dialogue from his youth, through his studies and practice of Buddhism, to his conversion to Christianity, and finally into the Focolare Movement and the Church’s dialogue with Buddhism. As an example of being in the frontier of the dialogue in the Buddhist world, he presents his experiences and reflections during his early dialogues in Japan. In that context, he notes how many of the Buddhist figures with whom he dialogued found similarities between their views and those of Chiara Lubich and the Focolare Movement. His dialogues in Japan opened the door to intellectual and spiritual encounters with some of the great Buddhist thinkers of the twentieth century. The article then describes how he moved from doing dialogue as an individual in the frontier with Buddhism to being part of the ongoing dialogues of the Focolare, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue. He gives examples from these dialogical experiences of similarities between certain Buddhist viewpoints and the unpublished mystical writings of Chiara Lubich that are commonly called “Paradise ’49”. In doing so, he describes the relationship that developed between himself and Masao Abe, and then Abe’s relationship with the Focolare and Pope John Paul II. He also describes the positive reaction of the Dalai Lama upon hearing the views of Chiara Lubich.